Blair student tased, restrained by police officer during school

A Montgomery County Police Officer tased a female Blair freshman in the courtyard outside the Student Activity Center (SAC) during fifth period Thursday, after the student allegedly assaulted the officer.

Courtesy of Silver Chips Online Stock Photo

A freshman was tased Thursday in the courtyard.

According to Principal Renay Johnson, the student, 16, who remains unnamed to protect her privacy as a minor, refused orders by Security Guard Kathleen Greene to enter Blair's building at the end of fifth period. After several failed orders, Greene called Blair's Resource Officer to the scene for assistance. Johnson said the student refused to comply with security and became increasingly disruptive, striking the officer. In response, the officer used a Taser on the student. Three other police officers also responded to the scene as backup.

A Taser is an instrument commonly used by law enforcement that sends electrical currents through the muscles, causing temporary neuromuscular incapacitation and involuntary muscular contractions.

As per regulation, the student was taken to the hospital for an evaluation after the incident. According to Johnson, Vice Principal Dirk Cauley accompanied her to the hospital. Neither the student nor any of the officers involved suffered injuries. A stretcher was brought to the scene but the student was able to walk on her own after recovering from the effects of the Taser.

The incident happened at approximately 11:30 a.m., and many students were in the courtyard during their lunch period to witness it. Students were instructed to leave the courtyard after the student was detained.

The principal sent a brief letter explaining to Blair parents through the school's email listserv that explained that a student was "restrained" and "transported to the hospital for an evaluation," but did not mention the use of a Taser.

This is the first time in Blair's recent history that a student has been tased, according to Johnson. "I've been here two years, and I've never seen a student belligerent and that out of control," she said.

Discuss this Article

Silver Chips Online invites you to share your thoughts about this article. Please use this forum to further discussion of the story topic and refrain from personal attacks and offensive language. SCO reserves the right to deny any comment. No comments that include hyperlinks will be posted. If you have a question for us, please include your email address or use this form.

Parent on April 19, 2013 at 10:36 AM

As a Blair parent, I think it is important to note that the listsev email did not mention that the student was tased. Principal Johnson should send home a complete letter including all the facts as soon as possible.

This is absolutely horrible!!!! When I was at Blair, and we still had that stupid ID policy, we were worried about things like this happening. There was a not-too-subtle racism amongst some of the staff back then, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if if the girl who got tased was either Black or Hispanic. It's so pathetic ~ the staff makes these blanket assumptions about whether a kid is a "good kid" or "bad kid", then they end up treating the kids totally different based on that label. Did it occur to the guard that MAYBE the girl was having a bad day, or maybe trouble at home, or any of the other problems that are normal for teens .

BTW ~ the "assaulting a police officer" charge is probably bogus too. While covering non-violent demonstrations and the police response to them, I've seen cops slap "assaulting a police officer" on activists just for touching a police car. And on top of that, I work with troubled youth and I can tell you that there are many other alternatives to restraining a kid that don't involve legalized electrocution.

Please don't take pleasure from somebody else's pain. Realize that if this cop or Mont Co police get away with tasing this girl, they're gonna feel like it's ok to use a taser on other students. And they'll start doing so. The criminalization of kids has to stop, and no time like the present to end it.